Social media platform X on Saturday said it will close its operations in Brazil "effective immediately" over "censorship orders" by Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.
X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claims Moraes threatened one of the company's legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if the firm did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform.
According to pictures of a document posted by the company, formerly known as Twitter, it faces a daily fine of 20,000 reais ($3,653) and arrest of X representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if it did not comply with the orders.
"To protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately," X in a post said.
X remains available to the people of Brazil, the platform said on Saturday.
Moraes had earlier this year ordered X to block certain accounts, as he purportedly investigated "digital militias," accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Moraes opened an inquiry earlier this year into Musk after he said he would restore accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked. Musk has called the Moraes' decisions regarding X "unconstitutional."
After Musk's challenges, X representatives reversed course and told Brazil's Supreme Court that the social media giant would comply with the legal rulings.
X's lawyers in Brazil in April told the Supreme Court that "operational faults" had allowed users who were ordered blocked to stay active on the social media platform.
Musk, in a post on X on Saturday, called Moraes an "utter disgrace to justice."
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